Treasure

by Pastor Marty

Jesus tells a story about a man who goes on a journey (Matt. 25:14-30). He entrusts, before he leaves, his property to his slaves. To one he gives five talents, to another he gives two talents, and to the last he gives one talent. Now one talent is equal to 6,000 denarii or fifteen years of wages for a common laborer. It is a ridiculous amount of money! Our first inclination might be to follow the lead of the one who takes the money and buries it in the ground. This is a lot of money! Maybe he was afraid of mismanaging the money or losing it or disappointing his master. The best thing to do, or so he thought, was to bury the treasure.

The other two slaves put the money to work and their investment doubles. What will the master’s response be upon his return? He praises these two slaves with these words, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” The one who buries the treasure might expect to garner the same kind of response. He does not put the master’s treasure at risk. His action was prudent and responsible, right? However, this slave, upon the master’s return, receives a royal thrashing. He is not pleased that his treasure was preserved, protected, and safely buried. This master did not intend for his treasure to be buried, but rather, for his treasure to go to work for him.

This master is not playing it safe. This master is not trying to play small in this world. Quite the opposite. This master invites these three to live, to live with this great treasure. Two were not afraid and they risked mightily, and they were invited to “enter into the joy of the master.” To be sure, there was a risk for the first two slaves but there was no joy whatsoever for the one who sat on the treasure. Fear is cheap. Fear is stingy. Fear will keep you up at night prompting those questions…. Do you have enough? Will you have enough? Are you sure? If we are scared, we will not live into the abundance of life…we will shrink, we will play small, and we will bury ourselves. Fear is the secret destroyer of living in the super abundance of God. Will we bury our treasure, and finally ourselves, because we are afraid, or will we live into the super-abundance of God?

The apostle Paul puts it this way, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty we might become rich.” God took a risk. God invested. God put his love to work in the person of Jesus. For some, this love was too extravagant…it was too much…and fear showed up. They killed him and buried the treasure, but the treasure of God cannot be buried. On the 3^rd day, resurrection day, this treasure was unearthed!

This treasure is Jesus and his gospel message. This treasure has been given to you. So live, live with this great treasure and enter the joy of your master…!

-- Pastor Marty

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